sandalwood

Key Takeaways

The overseas smart wearable market is still growing steadily. In January–September 2026, overseas smart wristband shipments rose 10% year on year and sales value 11%, while ASP edged up just 1%. Behind the flat headline total, product forms are diverging: conventional bands are growing at a modest pace, while screenless products — with faster growth and higher unit value — have become the key variable pushing the band market up the value chain.

The four screenless products — WHOOP, Fitbit Air, AMAZFIT HELIO and Polar Loop — lifted shipments about 270% year on year. They account for roughly 24% of smart band sales value but only 7% of units. The new form factor has won initial market acceptance.

Regional performance is uneven: North America combines scale with growth, the Middle East has the highest value share, and Southeast Asia, Southern Europe and Latin America are in the early, fast-expansion phase. Screenless bands are spreading outward from a handful of core countries to more regions.

01　Screenless Forms Inject New Momentum into the Conventional Band Market

Excluding screenless products, conventional band ASP actually fell about 2%

The screenless wearable market has heated up markedly in recent years.

After WHOOP launched the WHOOP 5.0 and the ECG-capable WHOOP MG, AMAZFIT and Polar followed with the Helio Strap and Polar Loop. In May 2026 Google released the $99.99 Fitbit Air, carrying the screenless form further into the mass health market. Screenless bands have evolved from a niche professional sports product into an emerging category spanning training, recovery management and everyday health tracking.

Sandalwood's global e-commerce monitoring shows overseas smart wristband shipments up 10% year on year in January–September 2026, sales value up 11% and ASP up only 1%. The market is still expanding steadily, but product forms are starting to diverge. Smartwatches keep reinforcing screen interaction and ecosystem features and remain the mainstream; smart bands, better suited to scenarios that demand continuous monitoring — sleep, recovery, stress and training load — have spun off the screenless design.

On the surface, smart bands posted solid growth across units, value and price. But excluding the four screenless lines — WHOOP, Fitbit Air, AMAZFIT HELIO and Polar Loop — other bands grew shipments about 12% and sales value about 10%, while ASP actually fell about 2%. Conventional bands are therefore expanding mainly on modest volume gains, with some pressure on pricing.

Screenless products, growing faster and carrying higher value, are the key variable driving the band market's structural upgrade.

02　Screenless Bands Take Only 7% of Units but 24% of Sales Value

A blended ASP of about $214 — more than triple the overall band market average

Four representative product paths have taken shape in the screenless band market.

WHOOP focuses on professional training, recovery and long-term health management, built around deep data insight and membership services. Fitbit Air enters the mass health market at a $99.99 hardware price and layers on personalised services through Google Health and an AI health coach. AMAZFIT Helio Strap emphasises continuous heart rate, exercise recovery and interoperability with Zepp and AMAZFIT devices, with no mandatory subscription. Polar Loop highlights sports science, automatic tracking and full functionality on a one-off purchase.

Different as their positioning is, all four shift the competitive focus from screen interaction to light wearability, continuous data capture and the interpretation of health data.

In January–September 2026 the four products together grew shipments about 270% year on year and sales value about 215%. They take only about 7% of smart band units yet contribute about 24% of sales value, at a blended ASP of roughly $214 — more than three times the overall band market average.

Screenless bands are not yet mainstream, but they already carry high market value and a meaningful base of consumer acceptance. As products such as Fitbit Air and AMAZFIT HELIO lower the entry barrier, the category is moving beyond the premium professional niche led by WHOOP into more price tiers and user groups.

03　North America Remains the Core Market as Emerging Markets Add Growth Points

Screenless products take about 36% of US sales value and nearly half in Thailand

Regional performance shows screenless bands at very different stages of development.

North America is a core market: large, fast-growing and carrying a high value share.

In January–September 2026 screenless band sales value there grew 188% year on year, about 34% of the local smart band market. The US is the largest single market, up 188%, with screenless products at about 36% of sales value. A professional sports culture, a habit of paying for health services and the brand equity built by WHOOP together underpin North America's scale and high value.

Southeast Asia shows rapid growth across several countries, with Thailand the first to reach a high share.

Regional screenless sales value rose 501% year on year; Thailand alone grew 677%, with screenless products at nearly half of the local smart band market — the standout country in the region. Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore all hold triple-digit growth, though screenless value share mostly sits at 10–20%; the Philippines remains low on both base and share. Demand is being released across multiple markets, but outside Thailand most countries are still in market entry and rapid expansion.

Europe already shows a multi-brand landscape.

Germany and the UK lead on scale, with screenless sales value up 174% and 293% respectively and above 25% of local smart band sales value. Spain and Italy are growing faster — 366% and 739% — but their value shares of about 18% and 15% still trail Germany and the UK. Germany and the UK are thus closer to mature markets with both scale and share, while Spain and Italy are in a high-speed catch-up phase.

The Middle East is a relatively small but high-share market.

Screenless sales value in the UAE and Saudi Arabia grew 68% and 70% year on year, each at about half of the local smart band market — above other major countries. Local consumers' strong appetite for premium technology and health products likely gives high-value screenless devices a solid base.

Latin America has only just entered an acceleration phase.

Screenless sales value in Mexico and Brazil grew 587% and 785%, yet accounts for only about 14% and 6% of local smart band sales value; Argentina, Colombia and Chile remain new or small markets.

Overall, the US has proven both the scale and the high value of screenless bands; the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Thailand show high value shares; Germany and the UK are mature markets in multi-brand expansion; other Southeast Asian markets, Southern Europe and Latin America show the early-phase pattern of high growth on a limited share. The overseas expansion of screenless bands is spreading step by step from a few core countries to more regions.